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“Safety first” is not just our mantra—it’s our job, 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. Communities have the right to know the safety record of America’s nuclear energy plants. We are proud to share it. We are conducting a thorough assessment of the safety of each nuclear plant to ensure they are prepared for any event that could occur.

One in five American homes and businesses is powered by electricity generated at the nation’s 104 nuclear energy facilities, which produce no greenhouse gases and which are the most reliable electricity generators. Nuclear energy technology is developed here at home, making it an important part of the nation’s comprehensive energy portfolio.

“Here at home, nuclear power is an important part of our own energy future... Our nuclear power plants have undergone exhaustive study, and have been declared safe...But when we see a crisis like the one in Japan, we have a responsibility to learn from this event...” – President Barack Obama

America’s nuclear energy facilities are built to a high safety standard, yet energy companies are actively reviewing their plants and procedures to ensure even more accountability. The U.S. nuclear industry embraces a simple principle: plan for the unexpected by integrating multi-layered safety features and operating procedures every step of the way.

The U.S. nuclear energy industry has created a joint leadership model to coordinate the industry's response to the events at the Fukushima Daiichi. The model will ensure that lessons learned are identified and well understood, and that response actions are effectively implemented industrywide.

Following the Fukushima Daiichi accident, the U.S. nuclear energy industry began examining ways to ensure safety is maintained in the face of extreme natural events. The industry has begun implementing a number of measures to maintain and upgrade the already-high level of safety at nuclear energy facilities.

Over the weekend, multiple media outlets reported that trace levels of radioactive Cesium had been found in Blue Fin Tuna caught off the coast of California. The radioactive particles had been picked up from the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant (click here for the report), according to a report from the National Academy of Sciences.

Before anyone thinks twice about eating tuna, there are a couple of facts that you should keep in mind:

NextEra Energy’s fleet operations training manager, Chuck Sizemore, oversees the initial licensing and continual training of reactor and senior reactor operators at the company’s five nuclear energy facilities in Florida, Iowa, New Hampshire and Wisconsin. Sizemore has 27 years of experience in the U.S. Navy and the commercial nuclear power industry and currently chairs the industry’s Licensed Operator Focus Group, which works with the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) to promote effective operator licensing and training programs.Read More »

The following story originally appeared in NEI’s Nuclear Energy Overview.

Radiation released during the accident at Japan’s Fukushima Daiichi facility was much lower than previously believed, according to a recently released World Health Organization report. The report gathers together more data about the radiation release than any other report to date.

The preliminary draft study said its radiation dose measurements are “robust on the basis of knowledge and information on hand at the time of the study.”Read More »

The following story originally appeared in NEI’s Nuclear Energy Overview.

A panel at Nuclear Energy Assembly on implementing lessons learned from the Fukushima accident agreed that the industry’s response to regulatory changes should be approached holistically.

Charles “Chip” Pardee, Exelon Generation’s chief operating officer, said that the industry is just beginning to implement the top-priority list of recommendations of the NRC’s Fukushima task force. Pursuing those improvements without losing focus on maintaining the safety of day-to-day reactor operations is “high on our list of concerns,” he said.Read More »

CHARLOTTE, N.C.—Duke Energy Corp. employees at the Oconee Nuclear Station in South Carolina have been honored with the B. Ralph Sylvia “Best of the Best” Award for completing the first digital upgrades to commercial reactor protection systems in the United States. The conversion from the analog instrumentation common in these systems uses digital electronics technology to enhance the monitoring and control of reactor safety functions. The new digital system at Oconee 1 also has diagnostic capabilities that increase reactor efficiency and operational reliability.

The Best of the Best Top Industry Practice (TIP) award was presented today at the Nuclear Energy Institute’s annual meeting. The TIP awards recognize industry innovators in 14 categories—four reactor vendor awards and nine process awards for innovation to improve safety, efficiency and nuclear plant performance, as well as an award for vision and leadership.Read More »

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Taking Action To Boost Safety at U.S. Nuclear Energy Facilities

Through its relentless commitment to the pursuit of excellence in operations, the U.S. nuclear industry is taking significant action to ensure that each of the nation’s 104 nuclear plants operate safely and securely.